Honey, you didn't really drugged me, did you?

Pushing the wheelbarrow, Chen Jie quickly returned to the village.

The county where Chen Jie resided is called Mianshui County, located next to a tributary of the Yangtze River called Mianshui, containing eight major towns, each comprised of three to five villages.

For instance, Chen Jie resided in Mianshui County, Xiantao Town, Xiantao Village, and under Xiantao Town, there were Upper Peach, Zhongtao, and Lower Peach—three villages.

Chen Jie quickly returned to his own village.

When Chen Jie pushed the little cart back from outside, all the villagers were stunned as they watched him because he had bought so many things this time, a whole small cartful.

Moreover, the cart was filled with fine goods, bags of grain, large chunks of pork fat strung with hemp ropes, and various condiments and spices, which all together must have cost two or three taels of silver.

Chen Jiusi had struck it rich!

This way, Chen Jie pushed the cart under the envious gazes of the villagers.

"Uncle Erba."

On the road, Chen Jie saw Chen Erba and called out to him, and Chen Erba immediately exclaimed, "Jiu Si, what is all this?"

Chen Jie replied, "Oh, we ran out of food at home, so I bought some."

Saying this, he continued toward his home, while nearby, under a big tree's root, Chen Jie's other cousin, Chen Sanliu, was complaining that Chen Jiusi had squandered his family's fortune and should have given it to him instead if he had known this would happen. How could he let his cousin's inheritance go to waste?

A few people listened to Chen Sanliu's complaints, their faces smiling, but inside they felt disdain. Why should they? Mr. Chen had a daughter; why would he give his possessions to you? And with your heartless disposition, if the things were in your hands, it would be like throwing a meat bun to a dog, never to see it return. How could you care about Chen Jiusi's well-being?

But even though they knew this, being neighboring neighbors, they had to maintain an appearance of cordiality, all playing along.

Just then, Chen Jie passed by pushing the wheelbarrow, immediately drawing everyone's attention.

"Hey, look, Chen Jiusi."

"Hey, it really is Jiu Si, he, he must have come into money, look at all these things he bought—bags and bags of grain, how much money is that!"

"Yes, look, there's pork too, Chen Jiusi really has made a fortune!"

"This cart, it's got to be two or three taels there, when did Chen Jiusi get so wealthy!"

"What's so surprising about that? A starving camel is still bigger than a horse. Mr. Chen's family was well-off, even if they squandered a lot, isn't it normal to still have a few taels left? Who knows, in some forgotten corner, fumbling around, you might find something valuable?"

"That makes sense!"

As a few people spoke, Chen Sanliu's eyes nearly popped out.

How does his family still have money?!

Hasn't Chen Jiusi squandered it all? How much money did his cousin really leave behind?

How great would it be if that money were mine?

Chen Sanliu's eyes green with envy, he coldly snorted upon hearing the people around him, "Hmph, a complete squanderer, even if you have money you shouldn't spend it like this! Farming families don't eat like that, no sense in how to live."

A few people cooling off nearby heard the envious tone from afar.

They glanced at each other, saying nothing.

Chen Jie didn't care what others said and pushed the cart right up to his own home. Just as he arrived at the entrance, he spotted Little Douding sitting on a small stool at the doorway, eyes fixated on something on the ground.

After watching for a while, he seemed to have spotted something, picked up a bit of it, tasted it, and his mouth muttered, "Little ants, don't get lost, or you'll get eaten!"

"Ruirui, I'm back."

Chen Jie called out, and Ruirui, who was sitting at the entrance, suddenly looked up and spotted Chen Jie, then her eyes were drawn to the items on the small cart.

"Meat!"

Ruirui immediately stood up and quickly ran over, shouting "meat, meat," but as she got closer, it immediately turned into, "Brother-in-law~"

Anyone who didn't know better might think she really liked her brother-in-law.

The courtyard gate opened, and Chen Jie pushed a cart inside while Ruirui stared at the items on the cart and shouted, "Sister, brother-in-law is back!"

"Brother-in-law brought back a lot of stuff."

Hearing this, Su Yunjin came out from the house, just in time to see Chen Jie and the items on his cart, her face full of shock.

"This?!!"

She knew very well, they didn't have a single cent in the house, where did Chen Jiusi get the money?

Her face was full of disbelief.

But Chen Jie didn't explain further. Instead, he handed the spices to Little Douding and said, "Help carry these inside."

"Okay!"

Little Douding was thrilled, grabbing the seasonings and helping Chen Jie carry them inside.

Chen Jie hoisted a sack of rice and then, holding a large chunk of pork, walked towards the house, and said to Su Yunjin, "Don't just stand there, help carry it!"

Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment, immediately replied, "Okay~"

Talking, she went to help with the items, and soon all the goods were moved into the house, then Su Yunjin asked, "Where did all this come from?"

Chen Jie laughed and said, "Haha, I got lucky today. Found some ginseng on the mountain, sold it in town for some money and bought these grains."

After saying this, Chen Jie pulled out a handful of broken silver from his pocket, about eight cents, and said, "This is the remaining money, you keep it!"

"Me!?"

Su Yunjin was shocked, and Chen Jie smiled and said, "Yes, you're my wife, what's mine is yours!"

Saying this, Chen Jie continued to move things, while Su Yunjin held the silver in her hand, completely stunned, her mind ringing with the words: you're my wife, what's mine is yours.

My wife, huh?

She turned around and watched Chen Jie carrying things and the joyous Su Yunrui fluttering like a little butterfly, tears once again falling.

It wasn't that she liked to cry, but having experienced darkness, even a sliver of light was enough to move her to tears.

She didn't actually care about the money; what mattered to her was that Chen Jie had her in his heart, and she was more moved that he didn't gamble the money away but instead bought the much-needed food for the home; he really had learned his lesson!

"Sister, brother-in-law bought so much meat, why are you still crying?"

Little Douding saw her sister secretly wiping tears, puzzled, she usually cried from hunger, but there's food now, why cry? She didn't understand, didn't understand.

Finally, Chen Jie had moved all the items into the house. There was a cellar in the house, previously used to store cabbage, where they placed the goods, Chen Jie looked at the pork and said to Su Yunjin, "Cut some for salted meat, and render the rest for oil."

Su Yunjin nodded, Chen Jie found a knife and began to butcher the fat, first cutting a big piece of belly pork about five pounds for salted meat.

Then he cut down another two and a half pounds for Uncle Erba.

Then he started cutting the fat into large pieces, cleaned them, and rendered the lard.

Little Douding was almost glued to the stove as soon as the meat went into the pot, watching eagerly and asking every few seconds, "Brother-in-law, is it done yet?"

Chen Jie, watching Little Douding salivate, couldn't help but laugh, while Su Yunjin at his side said, "It doesn't go that fast."

Little Douding pouted, "Why isn't it ready yet?"

Chen Jie said nothing, watching the fat in the pot slowly shrink, rendering out the lard, turning into a golden brown, Chen knew it was done.

He scooped out three pieces with a strainer, blew on one, and gave it to Little Douding.

Little Douding couldn't wait to shove it into her mouth, eating greasily, Chen Jie also ate a piece, hmm, really delicious.

Looking at the last remaining piece of pork crackling, Chen Jie picked it up with his hand and handed it over to Su Yunjin.

"Try it."

Su Yunjin was slightly taken aback but did not resist, opening her mouth to bite the pork crackling that Chen Jie handed over, inadvertently touching Chen Jie's finger.

Her face turned red instantly…